I did try to calm the waters with Willem a while back. As a result, he went all "black ops", his Youtube account vanished, etc. In fact, it ended up I had no way to contact him...!

His view is, this forum is "out to get him". And I have to say, threads like this (and I'm as guilty as you guys) certainly don't help get away from that perception. IMHO - and Willem, I hope you read this the correct way - you don't do yourself any favours by acting out the way you do either...

Of course, there's a dead simple way to solve all of this, and I believe Bob has already mooted it already: Let's get a WC Andree engine, with all of the good stuff done to it (I'm sure we could have a forum whip-round to raise the funds), and then lets work WITH Willem to do a thorough analysis. Or, because he'd probably not trust us as far as he could throw an engine, let's mutually agree a totally independent company to do a thorough analysis.

For me, I see things like the 100,000 hour claim (i.e. 11 years of 24/7 running) and think "no way José" - it's an impossible claim. The ONLY way to prove it in a reasonable timescale would be with accelerated aging, and I'm pretty sure that's beyond any of us as individuals or as a group? But there must be companies out there that can do the extrapolations, because modern commercial engines all have defined lifespans...

Willem - if you are reading this, and if you want to help yourself AND us, just join up & get in touch.

Or, alternatively, we keep on as we are - sparring with each other. I doubt it's doing either of us any real harm...

Yep, I've got the whole workshop thing going on too.... an old Herbet Edgwick Mk1 lathe from the late 1930s, a Bridgeport vertical mill from 1985 - and most recenly a Bridgeport Interact 1 CNC mill, also 1985 vintage. I have a couple of old Manchester Rapidor donkey saws, AC/DC TIG welder, MIG welder, and a rather lovely Hardinge turret lathe (which, TBH, I will probably sell to buy another centre lathe).

Mostly used to make bits for themselves, or for the racing car. I've yet to make any Lister components, but it's just a matter of time.

Right, I have details of Brett's engine, and Terry's engines.

Jeff - can you send me the serial nos. & list of any extras/spare parts you believe are with Keith? I will add them to my list.

I will try to get a hold of LIZ to see what engines he has @ Blackpool. I have a phone # for him somewhere.

If anyone else believes they have an engine at Blackpool PLEASE PM either me or Gary (dieselgman) with details, so I can go over there with as complete as possible a list.


I am still attempting to find a means of getting the money Joe Cobb stole back from him. No joy yet, but I will get there in the end.

We still seem to be stuck on the stuff stored in Blackpool... not certain how to sort that out without someone going there and confirming who owns what - so that it may be released and transferred to our new staging area.

Gary - I don't mind popping up there to see what's there, if that's of any use. IIRC Brett(?) has at least one engine there, in addition to Jeff's and whatever Liz bought & had transported there.

Might be worth asking on the stationary engine forum (http://www.stationary-engine.net/forum/index.php), there's a few diesel fans on there who might be able to help out.

Steering wheel's on the wrong side, though.  Don't know how anyone can drive like that.  Doesn't look safe. 

LOL - it's quite simple really. I close my eyes in the corners anyway, so it doesn't matter which side the wheel is on!

Ronmar - it's definitely a car to put a grin on your face: 480bhp @ the flywheel, live axle...

In a bizarre new twist, Willem has completely closed his Youtube account.

I guess that's that, then.

I though they put those news rags out of business over there.

The got one of them (The News of the World, owned by Rupert Murdoch) - now they're after The Sun (Rupert Murdoch's other tabloid) and Sky TV (Rupert Murdoch's TV news station).

You may sense a pattern there, and you wouldn't be wrong.

There's a distinct possibility that The Mirror (owned by the Guardian Group IIRC, or maybe Trinity Publishing) is also going to face some fairly serious music.